| | Hello folks,
After Luang Prabang, we took an overnight bus to Vienevane, the biggest city in Laos. At first, we didn't like it because it was under heavy construction, there was a lot of dust and grime, plus the heat had started to become really heavy. I think I mentioned this in my last blog so forgive me for being repetitive. In any case, like I said, we met a deaf Japanese traveler and some deaf women, which made our trip to this particular town really fun.
The next morning after we met them by chance, they showed up at our hotel - three smiling Laotian deaf women aged 22, 31 and 32 - astride scooters. We got on behind them and off we went zooming around the city of Vienevane. They took us to the Buddha Park, an about 40 minute ride, and it was well worth it. It was nice to have them around because they explained to us things we wouldn't have otherwise known. For instance, the statues at Buddha Park are donated statues from, and representing their distinctive styles, various southeastern Asian countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Mynamar and Thailand. The one with the gaping mouth and a crown of skulls was from Cambodia and so on. There are pictures on David's gallery for those of you who subscribe to that.
They then took us to a deaf school. It was a little sad. Poor conditions. Indifferent hearing teachers. After we visited with about 10 schoolchildren, took pictures and met again with the girls ( the girls wouldn't enter but elected to wait at a nearby cafe. From what I could gather, they either didn't want any part of the deaf school, or it wasn't allowed or perhaps both. ) There, we asked about the indifferent hearing teacher who simply assigned a student to show us around and disappeared back into her office again. The girls rolled their eyes and one of them made a dismissive wave of her hand. After some questioning, it seems the school does have two deaf teachers and not surprisingly these two are the best ones and were their favorites. So, in summary, Laos' deaf schools seems to have the same problems as American ones do, only amplified by poverty.
That night we went out for drinks. I think we were very exciting for them, as they were to us. The girl who motorbiked me around's name was Andoulay, and she forced me to promise I wouldn't forget her. She seemed to wish they could join us in our travels - she'd never been out of Vienevane and her middle class family prohibited her to work since she was so useful being the family nanny - doting after her various nieces, nephews and cousins. "I can't work," she said, betraying her obvious intelligence and wit. "You DO work," I coaxed her, "Taking care of babies IS work." She smiled and nodded her assent. Sigh.
The next day, we boarded a bus for a 24 hour ride from Vienevane to Da Nang, Vietnam. Only the two-thirds of the bus in the front consisted of seats. The back was boxes and boxes of fruit and God knows what else - burlap sacks of concrete mix, rice and everything under the sun. it was a crazy ride - the bus was basically a cargo bus that happened
to carry people. rice bags under our feet, boxed fruit in the back,
etc. people were sitting on the aisiles, on top of each other, reclining
between each other's legs. We didn't see another foreigner for the
whole two days. We arrived at the Vietnam border at 3am and the border
opens at 7am! It was in the middle of nowhere in the mountains and
everyone spilled out of the bus and slept wherever they could for a
while. Then it took us three hours just to enter Vietnam. The Vietnamese military searched the holds and I saw all kinds of things - spark
plugs, fuses, ignitions, car tires, barrels, plastic tubs, lumber, you
name it. That bus carried everything you could possibly imagine - and
humans as well. through the whole thing these incredibly poor
hardworking Vietnamese were so amazing - they slept leaning on each other, cradling each other between their legs and on top of each other in
impossible piles on the aisles and on top of the cargo in the back.
At one point I woke up and realized I had my head rested against someone's ankle - I looked back (I was on the last row) and saw a guy sprawled on top of some burlap sacks and his ankle had spilled over the top of my seat and he had not objected when my head ended up on his ankle. Thankfully, his bare feet didn't seem too filthy. They offered us food and cigarettes and even their toothbrushes. It
was quite an cultural experience, let me tell you. David has a nice short description on his latest blog, xanga.com/misterdayjr
After one night at sleepy China Beach, the site where American soldiers would take their R & R and have American style picnics on the beach before heading back inland for more combat, we headed for Hoi An.
It is a gorgeous town and you would
absolutely love it. The food is amazing, the town is quaint - French, Chinese and Japanese influence - and the artwork and crafts for sale is
all original and beautiful. Yesterday we were mulling over whether to eat at a sidewalk cafe and the woman convinced David by simply using her chopsticks to take a piece of pork off someone's plate and shoving it in David's mouth! The Vietnamese people are something else, I tell ya.
Thats enough for now, I think. This afternoon, we head for Mui Ne, a beach with giant sand dunes, then it is to Saigon. Then we will sadly skip Cambodia and fly straight to Southern Thailand from Saigon to spend quality time there and to slow down since we have been rushing along a little too much. I am looking forward to some serious scuba diving.
Love you all,
Jesse
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| | Posted 5/28/2007 11:54 PM - 58 Views - 4 eProps - 3 comments
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